8/7/2019 Essay Writing Tips Dec 2007
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19 Es say -style a ssessment s 16 7
a apply know led ge a nd und e rsta nding ;
analyse info rmat ion;
synthesise new i deas or tr eatments of facts;
evaluate issues, p ositions a nd a rgum ents .
See T able 1.1 (p. 6 ) for furth er e xplanat ion o f w hat 's e
xpected u nderth ese head ings, a nd watch out f or i nst ructi on
words that invite t hese
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I Cri t ical t hinkingI
IEssays ar e co mmonly us ed when tutors e xpect you t o t hink
more
. deeply. Oft en what you have to do is not fram ed as a qu
estion but a san instru ction . Typically, yo u will be e xpe cted
to:
"U'I' (1&4"~ ~ whe'reas t he essay format allows you to dev
elop an arg um ent ,
e xplain alternative views or provid e a high level of detail in
youra nswer. Because you cannot be e xpected to know all topi cs
inthi s sort of depth, t here is o ften an ele ment o f cho ice in
essa ye xam papers .
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Essay-styl e question s a re ma inly used by tu t ors to elicit
an in-d eptha nswe r to a comple x issue . Oth er s horter f orm s
tend to be includedwh en they want y ou to addre ss kn owled ge
over a wid e ar ea,
16 6 Ta ckli ng s p eci f ic ty pes of ex am a n d a ss e
ssment
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udgern ent
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pronouns ' I', 'you', 'we' and : one'. . ' . .. -- --If T his will
ens ure you do no t have to sta rt a nswers completel y from . .
.
, scratch .
r ~ ; in g t ~ ~ i c s - - - - ~- - - - - '- - - 'Use notes and
plans effectively. It i s pe rfectly accep table pra cticeto m ake
notes in ex am boo ks; however, you shoul d al ways s core1 So
metimes exam ination questions will blend two top ics so t hat y ou
th rough them befor e you subm it the answ er paper . A sing le
diagonalI may findthat you c an onl y answer ha lf the question.
This is one of line will suffice. S ometimes yo ur plan may be used
b y the e xaminer toi the dangers of questi on- spotting {Ch 9
).cros s-check deta il s of your an swer ( but do no t co unt o n
this ).
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19 E ssay -s tyle assessments 17117 0 Tackl ing specific types
of e xam and asse ssment
8/7/2019 Essay Writing Tips Dec 2007
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r= '~ = - ~
Keep your writing simple. If you ar e to stick to your e xam
strategy,you must not lo se valuabl e time crea ting a n attention
-grabb ing pieceof writ ing. Yo u won't ha ve time or space to
refin e your answ er in thesa me way a s you would w ith a pie ce
of cour sework . In parti cular, don 'tlab our the int roductio n
with f ine ph rases - get s tra ight to the point ofth e quest ion
a nd give your res ponse to i t.
Balance your effort appropriately. For ex ample, in e xam ans
wersyour introdu ction need not b e overl y long. Mo st m arks will
be a wardedfor the mai n bo dy and conclusions, 5 0 spend m or e
time and
bra inpower o n them.Focus on providing evidence of deeper
thinking. Esp eciall y athigher levels o f study,th is will help y
ou gain bett er grade s. On thea ssumpt ion th at you are able to
include basic info rmat ion and di splayan unde rst anding of it,
you can ga in marks for:
s suppl ying a dditional a nd r elevant de tail at the e xpected
depth;
& prov iding an anal yt ical a nswer rath e r t han a d es
criptive on efocussin g o n deeper a spe cts of a topic , rath er
than merelyreco unting f a cts ;
I} setting a problem in cont ext, and d emonstrating a w
ider
underst an ding o f th e t opi c; how ev er, m ake sure y ou
don't ov erdothis, or you may risk not answering th e question set
- rememberthat you cannot be expected to gi ve the sam e amount of
detail inan e xam an swer as you would i n a pie ce of e ssay-style
coursework;
